USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 37
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The Church of Christ (Scientist) in Westfield was founded through her efforts and she became its First Reader. She is a practitioner of the Christian Science method of healing all ills, mental or physical, and a loving devoted follower of the faith which brought to her its healing power. She is a lady genuinely re- spected and loved for her womanly grace, charity and kindliness.
ARTHUR C. WADE-The personality of Arthur C. Wade was built upon such an exceptional number of talents and abilities that to choose one in particular as being the one in which he shone brightest would be a difficult task. In his profession, the law, he was so able and masterly that he was considered one of the foremost lawyers of that section of New York where he practiced, indeed, one might say of the whole State, his fame having extended far and wide. As a business man he seemed to have acquired an insight into the de- tails of administration, and it would seem as though that should have been his chosen field of labor. In a professional man that is a very rare quality, as few of them are successful business men. While not a traf- ficker in politics, he yet was an able politician of a high, idealistic character, and if he had chosen he might have attained almost any position in the gift of the people. As an orator he was most convincing and versatile, having the power of stimulating the mental qualities of his hearers, or perhaps, appealing force- fully to the emotional side of an audience. In what- ever position it was his good or evil fortune to be placed, he met it with calmness and with a power adequate for any occasion.
Arthur C. Wade was born in Charlotte, Chautauqua county, New York, the son of George L. and Jane E. (Pearson) Wade. George L. Wade was born in Pennsylvania, in 1823, but went to Charlotte while still very young, remaining there until his son, Arthur C., was several years old, when the family moved to Ellington. He was a farmer by occupation and also considerable of a mechanic; a Republican in politics, and a Methodist in religion. He and his wife had eight children: 1. William, a resident of Cherry Creek. 2. George, died in infancy. 3. Jane E., married Henry Erwin, of Warren, Penn. 4. Charles E., who lives in Jamestown. 5. Alfred E., who died in California, in 1904. 6. John L., living in Jamestown. 7. Lillian A., married Bert Willsie, of Jamestown. 8. Arthur C., of further mention. Arthur C. Wade's paternal grandfather was George Wade, born in Massachusetts, but moved to Chautauqua county about 1840, where he continued to reside upon his farm until his death. He married a Miss Brown, of Tioga county, and they were the parents of eight children. Arthur C. Wade's mother, Jane E. (Pearson) Wade, was born in Eng- land, in 1822, but came to the United States at the age of six years, her father, Mr. Pearson, emigrating to this country in 1828 and settling in Charlotte, where he died.
The education of Arthur C. Wade was extensive and comprehensive, the foundation of it being gained
in the small district school of his neighborhood, as he lived at that time on his father's farm. After a few years he attended the Ellington Academy and from this institution went to Chamberlain Institute, at Ran- dolph. Here he decided upon his future vocation, that of the law, his selection of that profession perhaps being determined upon owing to the fact that in his boyhood he had met with a very serious accident while temporarily engaged in work in a local saw mill, the result being the loss of his left arm. A young man so handicapped would naturally choose some employ- ment where his loss would not be felt so greatly, but his mental attributes giving evidence of his ability, he : began his career by entering the office of Theodore A. Case, of Ellington, a successful lawyer of that town. . He studied under the direction of Mr. Case for nearly ' two years, when, in 1876, he entered the Albany Law . School, graduating from it in May, 1877. A month later he and Mr. Case formed a partnership which lasted six years, the firm name being Case & Wade. Here his skill in conducting the various cases which came to him attracted considerable attention, and eventually came to the notice of ex-Judge Orsell Cook. He suggested to the aspiring young lawyer that it ! might be to their mutual advantage to join forces, so in 1883 the firm of Case & Wade was dissolved and a new partnership was formed, of which Judge Cook, Jerome B. Fisher, a prominent lawyer of Jamestown, and Arthur C. Wade were the members. For twelve years this continued, when Judge Cook died in July, 1895, and Mr. R. Stevenson joined the remaining part- ners. The new firm was known as Fisher, Wade & Stevenson, but its duration was for a short period only, as Mr. Fisher withdrew in 1897, Wade & Steven- son continuing the business until 1910, at which time Mr. Stevenson withdrew also. A few years later, Mr. Wade forined a partnership with Louis L. Thrasher and M. L. Clapp, under the name of Wade, Thrasher & Clapp, and this firm continued until the death of Arthur C. Wade, Ang. 22, 1914. The many success- ful suits gained by him had made him one of the fore- most lawyers of his time, and his reputation for sagac- ity, extreme justice, and his power of cross examina- tion brought him many tempting offers from legal firms in various parts of the country. He at one time refused an offer from a New York concern to go to that city and locate. It was financially a great oppor- tunity, but Mr. Wade chung to his home and friends in Jamestown and he decided to remain there. He was continually called, however, to other large cities to take cases of the greatest importance, one being the case of Roland Molineaux, whom he was asked to de- fend at his second trial, but refused to do so. A case which was one of the most difficult that was ever brought to a successful issue by Mr. Wade, and which brought him into nation-wide prominence, was the Benham murder trial. A man in Erie county, named Benham, had been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife by prussic acid, and the Court of Appeals had confirmed the decision. The mother of the de- fendant came to Mr. Wade and besought him to re- open the case. At first he declined, but later yielded to her importunities. He asked for a new trial on the ground of new evidence. The plea was at first refused,
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but Mr. Wade's powers of persuasion were so great that at last Supreme Court Justice Hooker granted another trial, this being the only case on record at that time in which a new trial was granted under simi- lar conditions. Mr. Wade ferreted out the fact that many of the witnesses in the former trial had testi- fied falsely and when confronted with the proof were unable to make any explanation of their assertions. He brought forward the coroner who was in office at that time, Dr. Diehl, afterward mayor of Buffalo. He testi- fied that there had been no death from prussic acid poisoning in Erie county during his term, as it would have occupied the attention of every physician in the county; all the former testimony was proved to be false. Mr. Wade spent three days in summing up, presenting every point in such a manner that no argu- ment could be brought against it. The charge to the jury eliminated all possibility of conviction and the jury brought in a verdict of acquittal after the first ballot. As an evidence of the generosity of Mr. Wade's nature, let it be mentioned that although he had re- ceived a large fee for his services, he had spent more than his fee from his own pocket in necessary expenses for the case, thereby defending the man for nothing, and, furthermore, gave sums of money at various times to the man's family, which amounted to more than he had been paid.
Not only was Mr. Wade more than ordinarily suc- cessful as a lawyer, but, as a business man, he was an important factor in Jamestown. He was president of the Art Mental Construction Company, and was largely interested in the voting machine industry in the city; he was a stockholder and an officer of the Waverly Electric Light and Power Company, and of the Wav- erly, Sayre & Athens Traction Company. He was president of the Chautauqua Towel Mills; the Ahls- trom Piano Company; the Warren Ross Lumber Com- pany, and the Allen Square Company; a director of the First National Bank; the Post Publishing Com- pany; and the Chautauqua Abstract Company. His in- terest in the enterprises alone would make Mr. Wade a power in the commercial world. He was also greatly interested in real estate and his holdings were quite extensive.
In his youth, Mr. Wade was a farmer boy, and when success came to him in later life his greatest desire was to return to the scenes and occupations of his farm life. Among his many investments were several large farms in various parts of the State, all of which he kept in a high state of cultivation, spending money freely in whatever he deemed necessary to the develop- ment of them. He was not a "book farmer," but a practical one, superintending the ditching and draining of the land, the preparation of the soil for different plantings, and taking part at sowing and harvesting times. He personally saw to the construction of build- ings and the purchase of machinery. His summers were always spent upon one or the other of his farms, and whenever he could steal away from his numerous cares it was to his beloved farms he went for recrea- tion.
Mr. Wade's love of children was one of his great characteristics. To quote from an edition of the James- town "Journal," at the time of his death:
Having no living children of his own upon whom to bestow his affections and favors. Mr. Wade's heart opened widely in his love of the young men with whom he came in contact, and not a few of the young lawyers and business men of this community owe to him their opportunities for schooling and advantages that would otherwise have been denied to them. There are few who knew of his many acts of kindness along these lines, and of the number of young men he has helped through college and started upon a successful career. But these young men know it, and with few exceptions these kindnesses have been fully appre- ciated and reciprocated as opportunity afforded.
If Arthur C. Wade had not been such a successful lawyer, and if he had not made such a success of his business operations, or if he had not devoted himself so greatly to farming, he would have become one of the greatest politicians of his time. His services to the Republican party were numerous and highly valued. It was he who was chosen to present the name of Lieut .- Gov. Higgins as a candidate for governor at the State convention held in Saratoga, Sept. 18, 1904. His address aroused wild enthusiasm among his hear- ers, and has never been equalled in any other State convention. Mr. Wade was at one time city attorney, and in 1903 was elected assemblyman from his district, acting on the Judiciary Revision Committee and on the Committee of Taxation and Retrenchment. He was reelected in 1904 with a great majority. His political record is one of the cleanest and most force- ful that the party has ever known.
In social life Mr. Wade was positively brilliant, his conversational powers making him a guest eagerly sought; his bright witticisms were bon mots worthy of remaining long in one's memory, while his charming, easy manner, free from the commanding dignity of the court room, made him a companion most desirable. He was constantly in demand as an after-dinner speaker, his scintillating flashes of humor often touch- ing lightly upon the follies of humanity. But it was as a host in his own home that Mr. Wade shone par excellence; solicitous for the comfort and welfare of each and every guest, hospitable to the last degree, his generous nature exulted in the entertainment of his friends.
Arthur C. Wade married Frances Briggs, the daugh- ter of Carey and Diantha (Gould) Briggs. They had three children: Carey, Arthur and Ruth. They all died in infancy, a lasting sorrow to Mr. and Mrs. Wade.
When the dread summons came to Mr. Wade it found his family and friends somewhat prepared for the sad event, as he had been in failing health for some time. While past the meridian of life he was far from the allotted span of years, and the news of his death on the morning of Saturday, Ang. 21, 1914, cast a gloom over the city of Jamestown, his business associates, members of the legal profession, political and social acquaintances, each and every one felt that a personal sorrow had befallen them. His loss to Jamestown will be greatly felt, as he was ever ready to lend a willing ear and ready hand to any suggestion for the betterment of the city.
SAMUEL AUGUSTUS CARLSON-Honored by his fellow citizens of Jamestown with six consecutive terms as mayor of the city, Mr. Carlson is now (1919)
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serving in his twelfth year as chief magistrate of Jamestown. The record of his long term of office is a chronicle of the successful application of straight- forward business principles and high ideals to munici- pal problems, and under his leadership Jamestown has enjoyed an administration of public affairs, efficient, thorough, and capable.
Mayor Carlson is a. native of Jamestown, born Oct. 26, 1868, and his identification with the city has been continuous. He is a son of John F. and Louise Carl- son, and was educated in the public schools of his birthplace. Upon the completion of his studies, he entered the furniture manufacturing line, but recently has confined his activities to newspaper publishing. His political career began in 1893, with his election to the Board of Aldermen of Jamestown. Two years afterward he was appointed a member of the Board of Public Works, and for ten years he served in this body, aiding largely in the inauguration of municipally owned utilities and in the development and extension of those already under city control. As a Progressive Republican, he was elected to the office of mayor in 1908, and through successive reelection he continues in office to the present time. His record as a public servant has no chapter that will not bear the cloest scrutiny, and Jamestown, capably, wisely, and modernly governed, has attested her approval of the existing order repeatedly at the polls. In the early days of his administration the Elmira "Star Gazette" gave edi- torial expression as follows:
In these days of petty party squabbles, hold-ups of measures for the public good and even shameless graft in the administration of city government, it is a pleasure to good citizens everywhere to see reforms based on good solid business principles in active opera- tion as at Jamestown. Mayor Carlson's administrative ability, impartiality and rare skill in putting into operation new systems are attracting national atten- tion and he well deserves the warm praise for his work which he has received.
The "Municipal League Journal" of Baltimore in its last issue made this comment:
Samuel Cartson, Mayor of Jamestown, New York, ts a young official who belongs to that school of vigor- ous, aggressive and progressive public men who are forcing to the fore many needed reforms in the con- duct of public business. He is an able and enthusias- tic speaker who puts life into his words and action into his thoughts. His public service has been marked by his maniy way of doing things and the fearless manner in which he says what he thinks.
Mayor Carlson has given to his important tasks the best of his talents and, regardless of party lines, has grown steadily into the confidence and estcem of his fel- low citizens. While studying and solving his own prob- lems in Jamestown, he has kept in close touch with developments and accomplishments in municipal man- agement in other cities, and has devoted the sum of his knowledge and experience to the public welfare. Dur- ing the United States' participation in the World War he served as chairman of the Jamestown draft board. and took conspicnous part in all patriotic work, from the campaigns for relief and social service organiza- tions to the fifth Liberty Loan, Jamestown performing creditably her part in these great undertakings. Mayor Carlson has fraternal affiliation with the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, the Fraternal Order of Eagles,
and the Knights of the Maccabees. His clubs are the University and the Norden, and he is also a member of the Young Men's Christian Association and Vasa fra- ternity.
Mr. Carlson married, June 21, 1893, Freda S. Hend- rickson, of Jamestown, N. Y., daughter of Oscar and Hedwig Hendrickson, both deceased. They are the parents of one child, Wendell La Vern, born Jan, I, 1897.
WILLIAM HALL-Never had Jamestown a citizen more truly public-spirited than this high-minded finan- cier and business man. With the lumber business and with railroad interests Mr. Hall was long and con- spicuously associated; in banking circles he was a leader and in everything which in his judgment, tended toward improvement of community conditions and his abil- ity and weight of character placed him ever among the foremost.
William Hall was born Aug. 17, 1793, in Wards- boro, Vt., and was a son of William and Abigail (Pease) Hall, both natives of Massachusetts, and the former a captain in the Revolutionary army. Soon after attaining his majority William Hall migrated to Western New York, passing his first winter with his elder brother, James, who had settled, in 1811. in that part of the town of Elliott afterward known as Car- roll and later as Kiantone.
It was to the lumber industry that William Hall turned his attention, beginning by making shingles and taking them to Pittsburgh on a raft on which he worked his passage. In 1816 he came to Jamestown, there being then only sixteen families in the place, and was for a time connected with the store and hotel of which Elisha Allen was the proprietor, probably the only places of the kind that the neighborhood could then boast. In 1822 he purchased of Nathan Kidder, for three hundred dollars, the lot on the corner of Main and Third streets, where the Prendergast block now stands. On this land was an unfinished frame building which Mr. Hall completed and opened as a hotel, in partnership with Solomon Jones, Sr. In 1828 Mr. Hall moved to the south side of the outlet where he had purchased a tract of land, but nevertheless con- tinued his business as a lumber dealer, shipping large quantities of lumber to southern markets. In 1857 he bought of A. F. Hawley a lot and building on the southwest corner of Main and Third streets and in 1860, when the building was destroyed by fire, replaced it with a brick structure known as the Hall block.
The superior business qualifications of Mr. Hall included a versatility of talent and a facility in the dispatch of affairs which enabled him to successfully direct his energies into various channels and to neg- lect none of the interests so involved. He was vice- president and director of the Erie & New York City Railroad Company, which was merged in the Atlantic & Great Western Railway Company and later became the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Com- pany, which is now a section of the main line of the Erie between New York and Chicago. He was an active stockholder in the Dunkirk & Jamestown Plank
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Road Company, and a director in the Chautauqua County National Bank.
Throughout his early manhood and the years of his maturer life Mr. Hall was distinguished by a degree of initiative rarely found even in successful business men and this quality knew no diminution with advanc- ing years. A striking proof of this is furnished by the fact that, in 1873, being then in his eightieth year, Mr. Hall originated what became, in the course of time, one of the most prosperous of his many enterprises. This was the erection of an alpaca mill, the manu- facture of alpaca, which was then in its infancy, hold- ing possibilities which were clearly discerned by his far-sighted sagacity. The result abundantly justified his action, the manufacture of alpaca having since de- veloped into one of the important industries of James- town. The mill erected by Mr. Hall, greatly enlarged and thoroughly modernized, is now doing a flourishing business as the Jamestown Worsted Mills, and remains as a monument to the wisely directed aggressiveness of its astute and fearless founder.
As a young man Mr. Hall served with the rank of colonel in the New York State Militia, but, having little inclination for a military career, soon tendered his resignation. Neither did political life possess any attractions for him, nor could he ever be induced to accept any office with the exception of that of super- visor, which he filled in a manner highly satisfactory to all law-abiding citizens. Of striking personal ap- pearance, Mr. Hall was also a man of unusual physical strength and endurance. This was, no doubt, owing in part to a vigorous constitution, but it is, perhaps. also to be attributed to the fact that he was, throughout his long life, extremely temperate, never using either tobacco or intoxicants. His strong, refined face bore, as his portrait shows, the stamp of the qualities which made him what he was.
Mr. Hall married, July 4, 1824, Julia, daughter of Solomon and Clarissa (Hayward) Jones, and they be- came the parents of five children, among them Elliot C. Hall, a sketch of whom follows. Mr. and Mrs. Hall and their family were members of the Congregational church. Mrs. Hall passed away on Jan. 18, 1888, sur- viving by some few years the husband to whom, with her children, she had been so devoted, and to whom no place on earth was ever so dear as his own fireside.
The death of Mr. Hall, which occurred July 6, 1880, when he had nearly rounded out his eighty-seventh year, was mourned by the entire community as that of a public benefactor. His noble character and his pub- lic-spirited activities received from his fellow-citizens their richly merited tribute of gratitude and admira- tion. He was one of the makers of Jamestown, and the city, in the enjoyment of the prosperity in the creation of which he was so largely instrumental, honors the name and memory of the man who so potently helped to make her all that she is to-day.
REV. ELLIOT CHAPIN HALL-Few men who ever lived in Jamestown have been honored as was the bearer of the revered name we have just written. During the greater part of his life Mr. Hall was a
resident of this community, exerting, over every class of its citizens, a wellnigh incalculable influence for all that was enlightening and ennobling.
Elliot Chapin Hall was born April 29, 1838, in James- town, and was a son of William and Julia (Jones) Hall (q. v.). His early life was passed on his father's farm and in attending local public schools, whence he was advanced to the Jamestown Academy. Among his classmates were David N. Marvin, Coleman E. Bishop, Dr. Lewis H. Hazeltine, of Michigan, and George M. Standish, of Florence, Italy.
After completing his course of study, Mr. Hall was, for about two years, associated with his elder brother, W. C. J. Hall, in the sale of drugs and books, and in the autumn of 1857 he entered the Delaware Literary Institute, Franklin, N. Y., where he was fully prepared for college. The following year he matriculated in Yale University, graduating in 1862. In the autumn of the same year he entered Yale Divinity School, re- maining two years and then going to Union Theologi- cal Seminary, New York City, where he graduated, in 1865. He was licensed to preach by the New York and Brooklyn Association, which met in the Broad- way Tabernacle, of which the late Dr. Joseph P. Thompson was pastor, and in June, 1866, he was ordained to the work of the ministry.
For about fourteen years Mr. Hall served Congre- gational churches in Farmington, Pa., and Otto and Kiantone, N. Y., and at the end of that time was called home by the illness of his father, who died the follow- ing year. After administering his father's estate, Mr. Hall decided to remain on the homestead, thus becom- ing once more a resident of his native place and there passing the latter half of his long life. Jamestown had reason to congratulate herself on the return of a son who was called her first citizen, "because of his stain- less character."
From 1866 to 1906 Mr. Hall was registrar of the Western New York Association, and he was also a corporate member of the American Board of Foreign Missions. For many years he was an active member of the First Congregational Church of Jamestown, in which he held the office of clerk. At a meeting held in the church in April, 1920, Mr. Hall's family pre- sented the church with a gift of $10,000 for the pur- chase of a pipe organ as a memorial to Mr. Hall. From the time of the organization of the Young Men's Christian Association of Jamestown he occupied a seat on its board of directors, later becoming president of the board. He was president of the Associated Charities of the city, and of the Prendergast Library Association, and for many years a director of the Chautauqua County Trust Company, now the National Chautauqua County Bank. It was said of him with truth that to no other man did the Young Men's Christian Association of Jamestown owe so large a debt of gratitude and veneration. In Jan., 1905, he was elected a trustee of the Chautauqua Institution, and until shortly before his death he was a member of the board of directors of the Farmers' and Me- chanics' Bank of Jamestown.
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